Modeling and Control of Ultracold Atoms Trapped in an Optical Lattice: An Example-driven Tutorial on Quantum Control

The laws of quantum mechanics capture the behavior of physical systems at the smallest observable spatiotemporal scales. By pushing systems to the very edge of physical limits, quantum technology has the potential to revolutionize the state of the art in a variety of domains, including metrology
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, communication
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. As the field continues its transition from a scientific curiosity to an engineering endeavor, experimental prototypes found in physics laboratories must be converted into reliable hardware platforms that operate in less sheltered contexts. This step (from quantum science to quantum engineering) represents a unique opportunity for the IEEE Control Systems Society to provide meaningful insights on how to systematically steer these systems to the desired operating point.